With the end of mid-
term, its run, run,
run for the parents who are checking out hot admission seats for their kiddos.
Turn right, turn left, turn everywhere, there is always a long queue getting one to think that ‘Gosh, it is going to take a whole day for that queue to disappear’.
The premises of various schools in the city like St Anthony’s, St Edmund’s and the like are packed with parents seeking admissions for their little ones with hopes that their kids would get into a better school which would enable them to build their career with a firm supporting foundation.
“I happened to pass through Don Bosco last week while I was going out for a morning work at around 5 in the morning and to my surprise, I saw people lining up infront of St Anthony’s school (junior) and then I came to know that they were probably waiting for the counter to open so they could drop in the application forms of their kids”, a daily morning jogger said.
While stating that education of their children is the top priority of every parent, the jogger however questioned the logic of sending their children to some top schools when the same basic knowledge can be acquired in small schools which are basically dedicated to small kids like little flower, step by step and others.
However, according to some parents, the decision to send their children to top schools was to avoid seeking admission in other schools as the one that their kids are into are already the best.
“So what is the problem if we get our kids admitted in top schools”, a parent said adding that their children would be exposed to many new things which would prepare them for the future.
It is a fact that a good foundation would definitely bring out good products but poor kids, what do they understand of the importance of education?
But there is a saying that goes – An educational system isn’t worth a great deal if it teaches young people how to make a living but doesn’t teach them how to make a life.
There are some parents who are so eager to send their 3-year-old son or daughter to school hoping that their kid would be educated in a proper manner, gain knowledge which they would have never gained if they stayed at home for another year.
“They say that they are trying to shape their kid’s future but are they really doing that? Infact, they are torturing their own children, adding burden to their childhood. Their age is to stay at home, do stuffs like a normal 3 year old child would do, not go to school, get homework, earn grades and remarks”, remarked a learned scholar.
Keep aside sending their 3-year-old child to school, there are some who even send their kids to tuition, the scholar said adding that the world has become so competitive that kids have to shed away their childhood and get down to something serious, something which a class VII or class VIII student would do.
Not all children are bright and if the children don’t do well in school, their parents would add more pressure by cutting down their play time which is like cutting down a part of their childhood, he added.
So, it is either give more time for the kids to grow and understand things by themselves rather than letting someone or something to do the same, feeding and forcing knowledge into their little brains.
Like Plato had quoted “Do not train children to learning by force and harshness, but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each”.
“Are we claiming that we are trying to give the best for our children when we don’t actually understand what is best for them, we sometime failed to see that at present, our small kids needs time and not work, not homework, not additional pressure”, commented the scholar.
Education means imparting skills and knowledge to a child besides teaching them how to behave nicely and this job can be successfully taken up by the parents much like Gail Godwin has rightfully mentioned that “Good teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths pure theatre”.
So, the difference between school and life is that in school, you’re taught a lesson and then given a test but in life, you’re given a test that teaches you a lesson.
(By Ibankyntiew Mawrie)